Current Affairs Quiz -30th September, 2018 - MCQ

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $150 million loan to establish India's first multi-skills park in Bhopal. As per ADB, the skills gap in Madhya Pradesh is expected to increase in the next 6 years, with an incremental demand for skilled workers projected to hit 5.6 million in 2024. This new flagship Global Skills Park (GSP) is to be equipped with international training facilities to enhance the quality of Madhya Pradesh's Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system. It will create a more skilled workforce that meets the labour market needs of the state. The GSP campus, which will serve as the state's central hub for other TVET institutes, will have training facilities focusing on skills for manufacturing, service, and advanced agricultural jobs, benefitting about 20,000 trainees and trainers.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) approved proposal to raise Rs 5,431 crore capital support from the central government through preferential issue of equity shares. The capital infusion of Rs 5,431 crore by the Central government will be through preferential allotment of the bank's equity shares at a price fixed as per regulation. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had committed capital infusion to banks following his meeting with chiefs of public sector banks, on 25th September 2018.

President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to promulgate an Ordinance to set up a committee to run the Medical Council of India (MCI). The committee will have a 7-member Board of Governors led by NITI Aayog Member Dr V.K. Paul. The Bill provides for simplification of procedures and is aimed at spurring rapid growth in the number of undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats in the country.

The joint border conference was held between India and Bangladesh at Aizawl, Mizoram and delegates from both sides expressed their deliberations on the border issues between the two countries. The conference led to a vital discussion on the need for demarcation of the border between the two countries along Mizoram. From the Indian counterpart, Survey of India Director Sanjay Kumar headed the Indian delegation.

The world's first ever human case of the rat version of the hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been found in a 56-year-old Hong Kong man. This is the first study in the world that proves that, rat HEV can infect human beings and cause clinical infection. Rat hepatitis E virus is very different from human hepatitis E virus variants. The infected man had continuously showed abnormal liver function results following a liver transplant.

For the first time, the Kerala government has decided to create the post of 'firewomen' in the Kerala State Fire and Rescue Services in a bid to break gender stereotypes. The purpose of this novel initiative is to ensure gender equality & to enhance the participation of women in various sectors.

The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) has recently signed pact with Triton Solar Company of the USA to set up a solar battery manufacturing plant in AP under the public-private-partnership (PPP) model. The plant helps in switching over to electrical vehicles and secures 200 Megawatt of solar power storage supply to meet the state's energy needs. With an investment of Rs 727 crore, the proposed solar battery manufacturing plant will come up in phases & will produce batteries based on nano and lithium polymer technology.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Karnataka Regional Office has invited wholesalers and online marketing vendors to its Grameena Habba in Bengaluru from September 28- Oct 7, 2018. This would expand the market for weavers, rural artisans and craftsmen, SHGs, rural entrepreneurs, and farmer's producer organisations. The business-to-business interaction and feedback would help the rural artisans modify their product designs and creations according to market trends.

A renowned Marathi writer, novelist and translator Kavita Mahajan, died following pneumonia in Pune, Maharashtra. She was 51 years old. She was born in Nanded, Maharashtra. Some of her popular novels are Brr, Bhinna, etc. She had won Sahitya Akademi translation award in 2011 and Shashikalatai Agashe Award for Children's Literature in 2013.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Conference on Academic Leadership on Education for Resurgence in New Delhi in which the Vice-Chancellors, Directors from more than 350 universities participated. The theme of the conference is to deliberate on challenges facing the Indian education system and to work out a plan for a paradigm shift both in terms of achieving academic outcomes and also in the regulation of education. The conference will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and HRD minister Prakash Javadekar.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred Bandhan Bank from opening new branches and also ordered freezing of the bank's CEO salary over failure to stick to shareholding rules. The Bank was not able to bring down the shareholding of Non-Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) to 40% as required under the licensing condition, general permission to open new branches stands withdrawn.

The National Tourism Awards for 2016-17 were presented by Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons in New Delhi as India celebrated the 2018 World Tourism Day (WTD). Ahmedabad and Mandu were jointly declared as the 'Best Heritage City', while Qutub Minar bagged the top award in the differently-abled friendly monument category. In it, Gujarat won three major National Tourism Awards for the Best Civic Management (at Saputara Hill Station), Best Heritage City and the Best Airport-Ahmedabad. The awards were given in various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Andhra Pradesh bagged the first prize in state category for comprehensive development of tourism and Rajasthan Tourism bagged the national award for most innovative use of Information Technology, social media and websites. Ahmedabad had been declared India's first World Heritage City by UNESCO in 2017.

The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to convert GST Network (GSTN) into a 100% government-owned company. GSTN provides IT infrastructure for the new indirect tax regime. After restructuring of GSTN, ownership will be equally divided between the Centre and states. Currently, the Centre and states together hold 49% stake in the GST Network.

CICI Bank ties-up with MakeMyTrip to launch a range of co-branded credit cards. This includes 2 types of credit card - MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank Platinum Credit Card and MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank Signature Credit Card. These can convert their daily spends on the card to MakeMyTrip 'MyCash' as reward currency. The rewards points have the validity of upto one year from the date of issuance and there is no maximum limit for reward points that can be accumulated in 'MyCash'.

Yuvraj Wadhwani has won the 25th Asian junior individual squash championship title. He defeated Anas Ali Shah of Pakistan by 13-11, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10 in the final in Chennai. Yuvraj has become the second Indian to win the Under-13 title after Veer Chotrani, who had won the title in 2014 in Iran. In the Under15 section, Arnav Sareen settled for the runner-up spot. The Pune boy lost to Mohammad Hamza Khan of Pakistan in the final. ndia came out of the championship with a gold, a silver and four bronze medals. The bronze medals came in the other age categories through Kavya Bansal, Tiana Parasrampuria, Sanya Vats and Tushar Shahani.

Actor-director Pankaj Kapur honoured with 'Icons of Indian Cinema' Award at the closing ceremony of the ninth edition of Jagran Film Festival in Mumbai on 30 September.